Open AccessLycopene inhibits DNA synthesis in primary prostate epithelial cells in vitro and its administration is associated with a reduced prostate-specific antigen velocity in a phase II clinical study
Author(s) -
Neil Barber,
X. Zhang,
Guohua Zhu,
Rashida Pramanik,
Julie Barber,
Francis L. Martin,
Jeremy Morris,
Gordon Muir
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
prostate cancer and prostatic diseases
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2
H-Index - 64
eISSN - 1476-5608
pISSN - 1365-7852
DOI - 10.1038/sj.pcan.4500895
Subject(s) - lycopene , prostate cancer , medicine , prostate specific antigen , prostate , placebo , antigen , clinical trial , in vitro , cancer research , oncology , pharmacology , immunology , cancer , pathology , biochemistry , chemistry , carotenoid , alternative medicine
Interest in lycopene has focused primarily on its use in the chemoprevention of prostate cancer (CaP); there are few clinical trials involving men with established disease. In addition, most data examining its mechanism of action have been obtained from experiments using immortal cell lines. We report the inhibitory effect(s) of lycopene in primary prostate epithelial cell (PEC) cultures, and the results of a pilot phase II clinical study investigating whole-tomato lycopene supplementation on the behavior of established CaP, demonstrating a significant and maintained effect on prostate-specific antigen velocity over 1 year. These data reinforce the justification for a large, randomized, placebo-controlled study.